Senator representing Edo North, Adams Oshiomhole, says the taciturnity of Edo State Governor-Elect, Monday Okpebholo, paid off for him during the September 21, 2024 gubernatorial election in the South-South state.
Oshiomhole said televised interviews are overrated and that the All Progressives Congress (APC) cannot force its candidate, Okpebholo, to grant media chats.
“As you can see, our strategy worked, which is why the people voted. Monday communicated with Edo electorate, and they decided, and it worked,” he said on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme on Monday.
He was reacting to worries about the non-media appearances of Okpebholo unlike the two other frontline candidates in the election, Asue Ighodalo of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Labour Party’s Olumide Akpata.
At the point when the host of the show asked Oshiomhole for what reason the governor-elect refused to grant media interviews or take part in debates before the political race, the lawmaker said, “You are saying I was the face of the campaign, whatever that means, thank you. But what makes me the face? Maybe because I was speaking to the quality of Monday.
“I spoke about the quality of Monday, and we got him to speak to the people about what he will do differently. He has to justify those who are voting for him. How will he be different from this rejected government? He has to speak to them, and that is communication.
“But the mistake many TV hosts make is to assume that anyone who doesn’t appear before you, you exaggerate the import of television viewers.
“It’s not about not allowing him (to grant interviews); we are not in a position to compel anybody.”
Oshiomhole said the most effective means of communication is not television, and that radio had more reach than television.
A day after the election, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announced APC’s Okpebholo the winner of the distinctly contested election.
INEC said the APC candidate secured 291,667 votes, Ighodalo with 247,274 votes while Akpata scored 22,763 votes.
The Edo Central Senator, Okpebholo, leveraged significant influence in his senatorial district, and teamed up with his colleague in the National Assembly from Edo North, Oshiomhole, to defeat Ighodalo, the endorsed candidate of the outgoing Lead Representative, Godwin Obaseki.
Okpebholo’s triumph could likewise be attributed to his alliance with Dennis Idahosa, his running mate who is a federal lawmaker; and Obaseki’s estranged deputy, Philip Shaibu.
